We understand the frustration of Italian prosecutors with the conclusions that have been put forward so far by the Egyptian authorities. The university has pressed the Egyptian authorities to explain Giulio’s death. We have also called on the British government to bring pressure to bear and have backed the Italian government’s efforts to find the truth.

However, the lack of response from Egypt should not divert attention from the search for truth, to which the university is fully committed. To be clear, the central university authorities have not received any request for help from Italian prosecutors and remain ready to react quickly to any request for assistance. One individual academic at Cambridge has received a request from Italian prosecutors and has already responded to all their questions on two occasions.

This death was not just a tragedy for the family, but an assault on academic freedom. Giulio was an experienced researcher using standard academic methods to study trade unions in Egypt. Wild and unfounded speculation undermines efforts to bring to justice those who killed him.

We must oppose those who seek to silence others. Cambridge’s mission is “to contribute to society through the pursuit of education, learning, and research”. We pay tribute to Giulio, who embodied this mission and our values.Professor Leszek BorysiewiczVice-chancellor, University of Cambridge

• We are writing to express our dismay at claims that the teachers and supervisors of Giulio Regeni at the University of Cambridge are refusing to cooperate with the Italian criminal investigation into his brutal murder. These allegations are simply not true. As is clear from a statement by a University of Cambridge spokesperson, all those at Cambridge associated with Giulio Regeni have cooperated with the investigation from the beginning, providing answers to any questions either orally or in writing. Moreover, they have taken an active role in bringing pressure to bear on the Egyptian regime to involve its infamous security apparatus in a genuine and credible investigation to find the actual culprits. To suggest that Giulio’s teachers and friends, who are still devastated by this shocking event, are indifferent is insulting and absurd. Neither Giulio nor the university can be accused of being reckless or irresponsible, as no foreign student, researcher or academic had ever been murdered in Egypt before Giulio went there to undertake his doctoral fieldwork.